The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market was host to the city’s 26th annual salsa contest Saturday. Thirty salsas were entered into three categories, said Ellie Symes, a farmers’ market intern.
The three categories were raw, cooked and specialty salsa. Each category had first through third place winners, announced at the end of the contest.
Launching the contest was a salsa and guacamole demonstration by Nick’s English Hut owner Gregg Rago.
“Salsa does not need to be complicated,” he said.
Rago said he is a regular at the salsa contest, but not as a contender.
Word-of-mouth connected him to the contest organizers, and about 15 years ago he said he started getting involved in the contest as a demonstrator.
Rago showed the audience how to make salsa and guacamole using fresh ingredients.
“I do this quite a bit,” he said.
Rago said he is lucky his restaurant is staffed well enough that he has the free time to come to the market for events like this.
It was also helpful that he had a strong presence at the farmers’ market.
“I tend to be flamboyant,” he said. “People know who I am.”
The main ingredients involved in the demonstration were beefsteak tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lime, salt, jalepeno and cilantro. However, people should not feel limited to those ingredients, he said.
“There’s so much to enjoy,” Rago said.
People could opt for a fruit salsa if they wanted.
Chopping ensued for an hour while judges tasted the samples. As he ground his ingredients into one mixture, Rago advised the audience.
Use fresh vegetables. He said he and his wife watch the health of their food. It is easier to control when it’s homemade, he said. Home cooking also enables some freedom with the flavors that go into the condiment.
Remove as many seeds as possible from the fruit before chopping to reduce excess liquid. He squeezed tomato halves over a bin like an orange to seed them.
Drag the flat side of the knife against salted, chopped garlic to create a garlic paste, he said. The salt will help pulverize the garlic while the pushing motions will create a purée to season the dip.
He had one tip for chefs of all levels: use a sharp knife.
“A lot of people don’t cook anymore,” he said.
It’s sad, he said. It may be easier to go buy a bottle of salsa rather than accumulate the ingredients. However, aside from the health benefits of non-processed food, Rago said it’s more sustainable to buy your own ingredients.
People should not be intimidated by cooking, especially when it comes to a simple preparation such as salsa, he said.
“If you don’t like it, add something else to it,” he said.
After an hour of tastings, the winners were announced for each catogory.
Harrold Adkisson won first place in the raw category for his green and black salsa. One judge said it was the “best salsa I’ve tasted since this competition began.”
Thomas Williamson won first in the cooked category for his summer black bean salsa. Judges said it “looked good before you taste it.”
Luz Lopez won first for the specialty category for her tomatillo salsa verde with avocado. One judge described it as a “smooth salsa verde with a kick.”
